The Unassuming Economist

On cross-country:

• 3rd Workshop on Rent Control on June 22 and 23, 2023 – DIW Berlin
• Africa’s housing crisis: developers seek to scale solutions. Africa’s enormous housing shortage has few easy answers. Can innovative construction methods help, or does everything come back to finance? – African Business

On the US—developments on house prices, rent, permits and mortgage:    

• Home Prices in US Rise for Fourth Month With Inventory Tight. Data bolsters case that January was final month of declines. ‘Strength’ of May data bodes well for future, Lazzara says – Bloomberg
• Economic, Housing and Mortgage Market Outlook – July 2023 – Freddie Mac
• How The Housing Bears Got the Last Year All Wrong. The huge mortgage shock didn’t hurt prices and there still aren’t any homes for sale. – Bloomberg
• US consumer confidence races to two-year high; house prices rising – Reuters
• Interest for New Homes Strengthens – NAHB

On the US—other developments:    

• Housing-Market Rebound Poses Challenge for Fed’s Inflation Fight. Demand for homes continues to outpace supply, lifting prices. More stubborn inflation could require higher rates for longer – Bloomberg
• Robert Shiller—who called the 2008 housing bubble—thinks he knows how the housing market will exit its latest period of exuberance – Fortune
• Why We May Be About to See the Shortest Housing Cycle Ever. How long can house prices withstand the gravity of higher rates? – Bloomberg 
• Housing Demand Slows on Higher Rates and Prices – NAHB
• Foreclosure Rates Are Surging: These 10 U.S. Cities Are Where They’re Up the Most – Realtor
• Housing-Market Rebound Poses Challenge for Fed’s Inflation Fight. Demand for homes continues to outpace supply, lifting prices. More stubborn inflation could require higher rates for longer – Bloomberg
• Fannie and Freddie: Single-Family Mortgage Delinquency Rate Declined, Multi-Family Increased in June. CoreLogic: Mortgage Delinquency Rate Drops to All-Time Low in May – Calculated Risk

On China:

• China Holds Off on Major Stimulus as It Signals Property Easing. Politburo promises ‘counter-cyclical’ policy in July meeting. Readout doesn’t include big fiscal, monetary policy loosening – Bloomberg
• China property giants tumble as cash crunch bites – Reuters
• Is China property for speculating? Xi’s Politburo lets real estate off leash after 6 long years. Real estate policies across China will be adjusted faster to help nation cope with ‘setbacks’ from the ebb and flow of economic development in a post-Covid climate. For years, President Xi Jinping said houses were for living in, not speculating – but the Politburo made no mention of that on Monday – South China Morning Post
• China Property Woes Causing ‘Downward Spiral,’ BofA Says – Bloomberg

On other countries:  

• [Canada] How to Fight Inflation When Consumers Think Home Prices Can Only Go Up. The Bank of Canada is running up against optimistic homebuyers in its efforts to tame inflation, offering a glimpse of what might be in store for central banks around the world. – Bloomberg
• [Canada] Why the hot Canadian housing market keeps rising. A game of chicken between central bankers and consumers is playing out in one of the hottest housing markets in the world. – Financial Review
• [United Kingdom] Sunak tilts housing drive to inner cities to meet 1mn new homes pledge. Gove is set to cut red tape as PM insists target will not be met ‘by concreting over the countryside’ – FT
• [United Kingdom] Be angry about the rigged housing market. The UK property market is stacked against parents trapped in rented accommodation, says Karen Murphy – The Guardian
• [United Kingdom] Bomadland: How the Bank of Mum and Dad helps kids buy homes – Bank of England
• [United Kingdom] Generation Rent is at the sharp end of rate rises. Landlords with buy-to-rent mortgages are passing on their pain – FT
• [United Kingdom] The answer to Britain’s housing crisis lies in its towns and cities – not the countryside. The Conservatives are right about making urban areas denser, but their proposed planning reform is an undemocratic mess – The Guardian
• [United Kingdom] Number in temporary housing in England hits 25-year high. Homelessness rising sharply as rental and mortgage costs soar, official figures show – FT
• [United Kingdom] Higher mortgage costs threaten surge of UK buy-to-let property sales. Landlords look to get rid of financial ‘headache’ by exiting rental market, further depressing the housing market – FT

Links to the week’s top housing market stories.

On US

• Housing’s Recession Already Happened – WSJ
• Housing market recession? Not likely. Prepare for hot post-pandemic prices – USA Today
• These Are the 10 Most Overpriced Housing Markets in the U.S. — 5 Are in Florida – Yahoo Finance

On rest of the world

• Global Migration Boom Keeps Housing Costs High – WSJ
• Popping Real Estate Bubbles Will Prove Painful – Bloomberg
• [Australia] House prices will keep rising into next year, says Domain, as immigration boosts demand – The Guardian
• [Australia] Australian house prices set to rise again, despite interest rate pain – AW
• [Australia] Sydney house prices to boom again – MACROBUSINESS
• [Canada] Luxury real estate markets in Canada saw divergent performance in the first half of 2023 – CTV News
• [Canada] Posthaste: The luxury housing market in Canada has undergone a major change – Financial Post
• [UK] UK housing market forecast to avoid slump despite zero growth in prices – The Guardian
• [UK] House prices predicted to fall 12pc with ‘little prospect’ of bounceback – Telegraph
• [UK] Banks, Housing, Markets, and UK CPI – Bloomberg
• [Euro] European home prices fall but don’t bet on a crash – DW
• [Sweden] Sweden Home Starts Indicator Hits 9-Year Low After Price Slump – Bloomberg
• [Germany] New housing construction set to strongly decline – DW
• [Danish] Danish Housing Market Better Than Feared, Mortgage Giant Says – Bloomberg